1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus, a method and a program.
2. Description of the Related Art
There has been emerged MFP which, in copying a printed matter on which an encoded image pattern is printed, produces a copy of an image on the printed matter and also decodes the encoded image pattern in the image on the printed matter. It should be noted that “encoded image pattern” is, for example, a watermark image, a two-dimensional bar code image (called also a two-dimensional code), a bar code image or steganography.
However, an image suitable for producing a copy is different from an image for decoding an encoded image pattern. The image suitable for producing a copy is an image accurately expressing the original image on the printed matter, and the image suitable for decoding the encoded image pattern is an image in which a black portion thereof is clearly distinguished from a white portion thereof.
An object of the preset invention is using an image suitable for producing a copy to decode an encoded image pattern in the image by a high-speed (a small calculation quantity) method.